Zenith

ICT4D Week 2018

Friday, November 18, 2016

Facebook unveils population density map data

Facebook has unveiled its Population Density Map data to the
public, reports ITRealms.

In unveiling this, the Strategic Products Partnerships
Manager, Facebook, Emeka Afigbo, noted that government policymakers, academics
and local organisations will all benefit from access to this rich dataset.

According to him, the dataset comes with potential
applications such as socio-economic research, infrastructure planning, and risk
assessment for natural disasters.

"To start, Facebook has shared data sets for Malawi,
South Africa, Ghana, Haiti, and Sri Lanka, and they can be found on the website
of CIESIN at Columbia University. More countries will be added over the coming
months," he said.

Meanwhile, the first FbStart Meetup in Africa held in South
Africa with over 150 developers and entrepreneurs.

During this half-day event, ITRealms reports that attendees
met the Facebook team, learnt about Facebook platform tools for developers, and
saw how Facebook works with mobile app start-ups through the FbStart programme.

“It would not be possible for us to accomplish our mission
of making the world more open and connected without the help of developers and
other partners in our community,” Afigbo
said, stressing that they were delighted by the excellent turnout for the
workshop and excited by the possibilities of the great ideas seen from the
delegates at the FbStart event.